Are you struggling with anxiety and depression? These symptoms can be very uncomfortable and affect your quality of life. We often don’t think about what we eat affecting our mental health, but it certainly can. That tasty bagel or delicious pasta dish may be enjoyable, but they can negatively affect your gut, and therefore your brain.

Your brain and gastrointestinal (GI) tract are closely connected. Your intestines send signals to your brain, and vice versa. Therefore, when your intestines are not healthy, this can cause symptoms like depression and anxiety, and many people with these symptoms can correlate them with the onset of GI problems.

2 Little Known Causes of Anxiety and Depression

1. Gluten

Did you know that eating gluten-free can benefit your brain? Over the past several years, the gluten-free diet has become quite popular thanks to its effectiveness in resolving gastrointestinal issues. What a lot of people don’t realize is the effect it can have on the brain and nervous system.

Ingesting wheat means you have unknowingly ingested the most common dietary, mind-active food known today. Gluten, a protein found in wheat, can influence behavior and mood, and can cause euphoria, addictive behavior and appetite stimulation. For some people, wheat affects them like a drug because it can yield drug-like neurological effects.

Various types of anxiety are associated with gluten intolerance. Depression and related mood disorders are reported to be associated with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. Eliminating this one ingredient from your diet can change your life for the better. Discover 7 reasons gluten is bad for your brain.

2. Yeast

Did you know that an unhealthy GI tract can affect your brain and how you feel? If you suffer from anxiety or depression and have persistent digestive symptoms and/or recurrent vaginal yeast infections, and have been placed on repeated or prolonged courses of antibiotics, then yeast overgrowth, or Candida, could be a possible cause.

The Gut-Brain Connection

While both are crucial to your overall health, any connection between brain health and gut health would be seemingly coincidental to most of us. To be sure, both the brain and gut serve important functions in our bodies, although since one handles the digestion and the other handles our thinking, moods, and senses, the two areas would appear to have no direct link.

We Can Help

At the Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we believe in solving the underlying cause of your symptoms, naturally. If you suffer from depression and anxiety, and also have other symptoms of yeast overgrowth, then addressing the yeast by doing a yeast-free eating program can give you relief. Remember, what you put into your body can not only affect your brain, but also every aspect of your health.

Hormone decline can also cause depression and anxiety. Don’t wait. Take our symptom checker quiz today to find out if you have symptoms of yeast overgrowth or hormone imbalance so that you can start taking action to protect your health and feel your best.